"As the Trump administration tries to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been threatening to upend the talks by striking Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, according to officials briefed on the situation," APA reports citing The New York Times.
"The clash over how best to ensure that Iran cannot produce a nuclear weapon has led to at least one tense phone call between President Trump and Mr. Netanyahu and a flurry of meetings in recent days between top administration officials and senior Israeli officials.
Mr. Trump said on Sunday that there could be “something good” coming about his effort to limit Iran’s nuclear program in the “next two days.”
Others familiar with the negotiations said that at best there would be a declaration of some common principles. The details under discussion remain closely held and would likely only set the stage for further negotiations, starting with whether Iran could continue to enrich uranium at any level, and how it would dilute its stockpiles of near-bomb-grade fuel or ship them out of the country.
The New York Times reported in April that Israel had planned to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as this month but was waved off by Mr. Trump, who wanted to keep negotiating with Tehran. Mr. Netanyahu, however, has continued to press for military action without U.S. assistance.
Israel is not a participant in the negotiations between the United States and Iran. At the core of the tension between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Trump is their differing views of how best to exploit a moment of Iranian weakness.
In October, Israel destroyed key elements of Iran’s strategic air defense system, which helped to protect the country’s nuclear facilities. That would enable Israeli aircraft to approach Iran’s borders without fear of being targeted.
And Israel has crippled Hezbollah and Hamas, which have been supported by Iranian money, arms and rockets. In dealing a blow to Hezbollah in particular, Israel removed the concern of the group threatening Israeli aircraft on their way to Iran and retaliating with missile attacks on Israel after any strike.
Mr. Netanyahu has argued that Iran’s vulnerability will not last long, and that the time is right for an attack. Mr. Trump has argued that Iran’s weakness makes it a perfect moment to negotiate an end to Iran’s enrichment program, backed up by the threat of military action if talks fall apart.
Israeli officials fear Mr. Trump is now so eager for a deal of his own — one he will try to sell as stronger than the one the Obama administration struck in 2015 — that he will allow Iran to keep its uranium enrichment facilities.
Last month Mr. Netanyahu insisted that the only “good deal” would be one that dismantled “all of the infrastructure” of Iran’s vast nuclear facilities, which are buried under the desert in Natanz, deep inside a mountain at a site called Fordow, and at facilities spread around the country.
This account of the tensions between the two men is based on interviews with officials in the United States, Europe and Israel — who have been involved in the diplomacy and the debate between the American and Israeli governments. They insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss delicate diplomacy.
Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, met in Rome on Friday with Mr. Trump’s chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff.
The two men then traveled to Washington for a meeting on Monday with John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director. Mr. Dermer met again with Mr. Witkoff on Tuesday, though the topic of that meeting was not immediately clear.
Asked for comment, White House officials pointed to Mr. Trump’s remarks this weekend, when he said he would “love to see no bombs dropped.” Mr. Netanyahu’s office commented after this article was published, sending a two-word statement to describe it: “Fake news,” The New York Times article reads.
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